intolerable

See also: intolérable

English

Alternative forms

• untolerable (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French intolerable, from Latin intolerābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ tolerable.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɑləɹəbl̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɒləɹəbl̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧tol‧er‧able

Adjective

intolerable (comparative more intolerable, superlative most intolerable)

1. Not tolerable; not capable of being borne or endured.

   Synonyms: insufferable, insupportable, unbearable, unsittable

2. Extremely offensive or insulting.
   • 1971, William S. Burroughs, The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead, page 4:

     It is an intolerable sound that sets spoons tinkling in saucers and windowpanes vibrating.

   • 2019 May 28, Jack Guy and Antonia Mortensen, “Germans urged to wear Jewish skullcap ahead of anti-Israel protests”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     “I call on all citizens of Berlin and across Germany to wear the yarmulke (as the skullcap is known in Yiddish) next Saturday if there are new, intolerable attacks targeting Israel and Jews on the occasion of Al-Quds Day in Berlin,” said Felix Klein in a statement.

3. (nuclear power) Extremely worn and degraded, to the point of being unsafe.
   • 2022 December 15, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     o take apart an ageing nuclear facility, you have to put a lot of other things together first. New technologies, for instance, and new buildings to replace the intolerable ones, and new reserves of money.

Derived terms

• intolerability
• intolerableness
• intolerably

Collocations

with nouns

• intolerable cruelty
• intolerable burden
• intolerable situation
• intolerable condition
• intolerable pain
• intolerable heat
• intolerable position
• intolerable life
• intolerable state
• intolerable suffering
• intolerable evil
• intolerable risk
• intolerable insult
• intolerable hardship
• intolerable agony
• intolerable behavior
• intolerable affront
• intolerable insolence
• intolerable stress
• intolerable consequence
• intolerable people
• intolerable
• intolerable
• intolerable
• intolerable
• intolerable
• intolerable
• intolerable
• intolerable
• intolerable

Translations

not tolerable

• Azerbaijani: dözülməz
• Belarusian: нязно́сны (njaznósny), невыно́сны (njevynósny), нясце́рпны (njascjérpny)
• Bulgarian: нетърпим (bg) (netǎrpim)
• Catalan: intolerable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 难以忍受的,難以忍受的 (nányǐrěnshòu de)

• Esperanto: netolerebla
• Finnish: sietämätön (fi)
• French: intolérable (fr)
• Galician: intolerable (gl)
• German: unerträglich (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀφόρητος (aphórētos)

• Icelandic: óþolandi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uutholdelig (no)

• Polish: nieznośny (pl)
• Portuguese: intolerável (pt)
• Russian: невыноси́мый (ru) (nevynosímyj), нестерпи́мый (ru) (nesterpímyj), несно́сный (ru) (nesnósnyj)
• Spanish: intolerable (es), infumable (es)
• Thai: เหลืออด (lʉ̌ʉa-òt), เหลือทน (th) (lʉ̌ʉa-ton), สุดจะทน (sùt-jà-ton)
• Tocharian B: ekalätte
• Ukrainian: незно́сний (neznósnyj), несте́рпний (nestérpnyj)
• Urdu: ناقابِلِ بَرْداشْت (nāqābil-e bardāśt)

extremely offensive

• Azerbaijani: dözülməz
• Spanish: de juzgado de guardia (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Romanian: intolerabil (ro) m or n, netolerabil m or n

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “intolerable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “intolerable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin intolerābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ tolerable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [in.tu.ləˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [in.to.ləˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.to.leˈɾa.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

intolerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural intolerables)

1. intolerable

   Synonym: insuportable

   Antonym: tolerable

Derived terms

• intolerablement

Related terms

• intolerabilitat

Further reading

• “intolerable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “intolerable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “intolerable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “intolerable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin intolerābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ tolerable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /intoleˈɾable/ [ĩn̪.t̪o.leˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧to‧le‧ra‧ble

Adjective

intolerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural intolerables)

1. intolerable

   Synonym: insoportable

   Antonym: tolerable

Derived terms

• intolerabilidad
• intolerablemente

Further reading

• “intolerable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024